


Walk a Mile...Or More

by JWade



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 09:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17979053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JWade/pseuds/JWade
Summary: Harry's had it up to here with Ron's jealousy. He finds a spell that will allow them to switch places for six months. See how Ron likes being 'the boy who lived'.





	1. Chapter 1

Harry came into the common room after winning the Triwizard tournament. As he was putting the sack of gold in his trunk, he heard Ron mutter from the other side of the room, “As if he didn’t already have enough gold and fame…”

Harry sighed. He had had it up to here with his so-called best friend. He had been considering offering this since he found the spell and had told himself that Ron seemed better since they reconciled. He had decided that he would offer it though the next time the redhead’s jealousy flared up and it looked like it didn’t take as long as he thought. “You know what, Ron? You have no idea what my life is like.”

Ron snorted. “Oh like it’s really so bad.” Ron had heard the little Harry said about his relatives but took it with a grain of salt. It was just Harry trying to get sympathy with the little orphan routine. He was sure of it. 

Harry sighed. “I’ll tell you what. I found a spell when I was studying for the third task. It will allow us to switch places. It lasts six months. If you want, we can do it. You can be me and I’ll be you.”

Ron’s eyes lit up with greed. If he was Harry Potter, he would have access to all his money and he would get all the fame. “What’s the catch?” he asked suspiciously. 

Harry shrugged. “No catch. The only side effects are the fact that if one of us dies then the switch is permanent.”

Ron considered it for a moment. How hard would it be to get Harry killed when he was in Ron’s body? Then he could be Harry Potter for good. That was assuming Harry could die in the first place which he wasn’t so sure about. Maybe that Potter luck would come with the body and Harry would end up with Ron Weasley’s crappy luck. Then it should be a piece of cake. “Okay, sure. Let’s do the spell. Then you can see what it’s like to be me.” See how Harry likes being poor and the least of his brothers and looked down on by the whole family for it. 

Harry shook his head at Ron’s stupidity and went to the library to find the book with the spell. An hour later, Ron was Harry and Harry was Ron. Ron waited until Harry went to sleep and opened his trunk and pulled out the sack of gold and just let it run through his fingers for a few minutes. He had never seen so much gold in his life. He fell asleep that night with a smile on his face. 

Harry figured out one downside to the spell that night. He may be in Ron’s body, but he still had his own mind. He still remembered the death of his parents and Cedric and the nightmares followed him over. Oh well, at least he could be at least somewhat incognito like this. He was definitely looking forward to a break from being ‘The Boy Who Lived’. 

The next morning they got down to the great hall, and one look at the newspaper showed that the Daily Prophet didn’t waste any time. The headline “The Boy Who Lied” was blazoned across the front page. He looked over to see Ron’s reaction and saw him basking in the glory of being on the front page and not even noticing how people were looking at him. Harry shook his head at the ridiculousness and continued eating. He was surprised at how much he ate before he was full. Even after four years of Hogwarts cooking ten months of the year, he still was never able to eat as much as he probably should. The side-effect of being starved all his life. 

Over the next two weeks before the express took them home, Harry watched Ron continue to be oblivious about how people were looking at him and the things they were saying behind his back. He continued to bask in a spotlight that wasn’t there. It only took about three days before Hermione asked him, “What is going on with Harry? He’s not acting like himself.”

Harry shrugged and looked over at the parody of himself that Ron was playing. “I think he’s just on a high after surviving the tournament. I’m sure he’ll be back to normal after the summer,” he lied. He figured a summer of the Dursley’s would take the shine off Ron’s attitude. At least he should be acting a little more like Harry then. Hermione still looked suspicious but let it drop. By the time they got on the express to go home, Harry was more than a little excited. He would get to see what it was like to be a part of a real family. To be greeted by parents at the station and go to a real home. He knew that Mrs. Weasley considered him part of the family anyway, but it wasn’t the same. Not really. 

Ron pulled Harry aside on the train to ask for some info. “So your family…what are their names again? Just so I don’t look like an idiot and all.”

Harry couldn’t help but smirk. “Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley, my cousin.” The smirk dropped from his face. “Look. Ron. Whatever you do this summer, just keep your head down. Do what they say and try not to cause any trouble. You’ll just make it worse on yourself.”

Ron snorted. So Harry was still trying to pull the ‘my family is mean’ game. Like Ron wouldn’t see through that the moment he went home with them. “Sure, Harry. Don’t worry,” he placated his friend. 

Harry could see that Ron was just brushing him off and sighed. That was okay. He would see. It would serve him right to be a punching bag for the summer and he knew if it got too bad, Dumbledore would pull him out. He insisted that he’d been keeping an eye on things and that Harry would be fine. He trusted the headmaster to keep that promise. 

The train pulled into the station and Harry pulled Ron’s battered trunk down from the luggage rack with a smile. Time for the best summer of his life. He was pulled into Mrs. Weasley’s waiting arms when he stepped off the train and hugged her back just as tightly, not noticing her surprise at that. He watched impassively as she hugged Ron as Harry too and told him to have a good summer and write. Harry watched him walk over towards the Dursley’s with a little bit of trepidation. Part of him felt bad for putting Ron in this position, but he really did bring it on himself. 

Ron walked over to the Dursley’s. He recognized them from when they picked Harry up for the world cup. “Hey. We ready to go?” he asked cheerfully. Vernon grunted at him and turned to walk towards the car and he frowned slightly as Petunia looked down her nose at him before turning and following her husband. “Hey, can I get a little help?” he asked hopefully dragging the trunk and Hedwig’s cage along with him. He didn’t get a response. 

Once he got to the car and managed to get everything in the trunk, he got in the backseat. “About time, boy,” Vernon snapped impatiently. 

Ron figured they may just be in a bad mood from something so changed the subject. “So, where’s Dudey? He didn’t come?” 

Vernon’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as his face began to turn red. Petunia sneered at him. “/Dudley/ is at home. He doesn’t need to be exposed to your freakishness any more than he has to be.”

Ron blinked at that. She must be upset because he got the name wrong. “Sorry. Okay. How’s about you drop me off at Diagon Alley so I can do some shopping and you can pick me back up in a few hours?” Ron suggested hopefully. There was no way he was gonna wear Harry’s orphan rags all summer. 

The car suddenly screeched to a halt at the side of the road and Vernon turned around with a face full of fury. “If you think for one second that we will be playing your chauffer then you must have been hit on the head at that freak school of yours. You will sit back there and shut up until we get home and then you will start on your chores. You have a lot of time to make up for after that freakishness you went to last summer and there’s a lot that needs to be done, and so help me if you don’t wipe that smile off your face I’ll beat it off of you.”

Ron’s eyes went wide and he nodded slowly. Okay, so maybe Harry was telling the truth about his family being nasty.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry got back to the burrow and ate a big dinner as he, along with Ginny, Fred, and George were asked about their years at school. About halfway through the conversation, Mrs. Weasley asked him, “And are you and Harry still doing okay after your falling out before the first task?” Her tone said that there was only one right answer here and Harry was hardly going to try and get Ron in trouble when he was Ron so he would have given that answer anyway. 

“Oh sure. Never been better. We’re back to being best friends again.”

Mrs. Weasley breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Merlin knows that poor boy doesn’t need any more strife in his life.” Harry couldn’t help but smile at that. At least someone cared about him. He felt a brief pang of guilt over what Ron was likely going through now, but pushed it away. 

 

Ron was not having such a pleasant time of things in his own summer accommodations. No sooner than he walked in the door he was laid out by Vernon’s fist. “And that’s for actually acting like we like you, Freak.” While he was still dazed he found his trunk and wand removed from him and thrown in the cupboard under the stairs. He watched as Vernon let Hedwig out telling her not to come back before throwing the cage under there as well and locking it all up. 

“Hey! That’s my stuff! What are you…” He was cut off by another punch that knocked him back to the floor followed by a kick to his stomach. 

“You shut your mouth freak and get up to your room. And you better be up and cooking breakfast on time tomorrow,” he snapped. 

Ron decided that it was best not to argue further right now. He’d see what he could do about getting his stuff out tomorrow. Maybe the aunt would be nicer when the uncle was away. He went up the stairs, wondering how he was supposed to know which room was his. Once he looked down the hallway, he had a sinking feeling that he knew judging by all the locks on the door and the cat flap in it. He sighed and went inside and laid down on the rickety bed trying to will his pain away so he could get to sleep. He fell asleep to the idea of getting his stuff free tomorrow and taking the night bus to Diagon Alley and spending some of that gold. That would make all this worth it. 

 

The next morning at the burrow, Harry offered to help with breakfast and got a beaming smile from Mrs. Weasley before she declined the offer muttering about how sweet Harry must be rubbing off on her Ron. Harry went and found a book to read while he waited for breakfast to be ready, which only turned out to be about ten minutes. After breakfast, he was surprised when Professor Dumbledore showed up wanting to talk to Ron privately. Mrs. Weasley nodded and shooed everyone out of the house before following them. She would take care of the hens while the headmaster and Ron were talking. She was so grateful that the wise old mage had taken such an interest in her youngest. 

Dumbledore sat at the table across from Harry/Ron. “I deposited your payment for the upcoming year into your vault and as promised I gave you a raise.” Harry just nodded like he knew what he was talking about even though he had no clue. The next bit started clearing it up though, and he forced his anger from showing. “I even gave you a bit of a bonus for doing such a good job keeping him isolated this year. That was good thinking to turn the school against him when his name came out of the cup.” Harry forced a smug look on his face like he was proud of himself for that. He just thought about beating the crap out of Ron and it was easy. “For next year, I want you to start steering Harry towards your sister. If we can get him to marry her we can keep all the Potter gold in your family. If it doesn’t work, we’ll slip them some love potions in your sixth year, but I would prefer if we can get them together naturally. Of course, keep him from forming any other attachments like always.”

Harry breathed deeply before asking the question he desperately needed an answer to right now. “And Hermione?” 

“I will be visiting her this afternoon with the same instructions. I just need to swing by Potter Manor to get the next installment of books for her payment first.” 

Harry nodded as he inwardly seethed. So he was paying both Ron and Hermione to keep him isolated and was paying Hermione with books from his family’s collection. He didn’t even know about Potter Manor. He wouldn’t be surprised if the old coot was paying them from his vault too. He wondered how much more he didn’t know about. “And you’re sure Harry still doesn’t know…” he left it open-ended to see how much he could get. 

Dumbledore waved him away. “Of course, my boy. Aside from that incident before your third year, I’ve been able to keep him away from the bank so he still has no idea about his family vaults or properties. I will have your mother go shopping for him again this year as well.” 

“So Mum knows…” Harry felt his heart breaking as he came to that realization. 

“Of course not, silly boy. She’s still in the dark as always, and you are to ensure she stays there. She doesn’t have as great an understanding of the greater good as you and I do, after all. I regret that I had to obliviate your sister when she refused to play along as well, but no matter. I have the most important Weasley on my side still,” Dumbledore laid on the flattery, knowing how to play Ron like a fiddle. 

Harry forced a smile on his face at that and nodded. It seemed that Dumbledore was finished now as he got up just as Mrs. Weasley came back in and said his farewells. As soon as Dumbledore was gone Harry made a mad dash for the stairs and locked himself in Ron’s room. Any guilt he had over Ron’s current situation was now gone. The bastard deserved everything the Dursleys could throw at him and more. 

 

Ron was definitely getting what he deserved. He had no idea how to cook even with magic, much less the muggle way. After he burned breakfast Petunia had put his hands on the hot stove, burning them severely and Ron was amazed at how strong she was. Once Vernon came in, expecting his breakfast and saw what he was met with, he went to kicking the boy who was curled up on the floor moaning over his hurt hands. Once he got tired the three of them went out for breakfast and he was told that his list of chores were on the table and so help him if they weren’t done before he got home tonight. 

Ron took heart from the fact that they were all apparently going to be gone all day. He pulled himself painfully to his feet and went over to run his burned hands under the cold water. Stupid Harry could have at least told him how to cook and stuff before letting him come here, but no. The idiot had to set him up to be beaten. He would make Harry pay for this. Once his hands were as good as they were going to get, which wasn’t saying much, he hobbled over to the table to look at the chore list and his jaw dropped. He was supposed to have all this done in one day?! Without magic?! Even with magic this would probably take more than a day. 

He sighed and resigned himself for another beating tonight. That was if he couldn’t get out of here by then. He looked at the cupboard under the stairs and sighed. He wished he had paid attention when his brothers offered to teach him how to pick locks. He suspected it would be more difficult with the shape of his hands currently anyway. He would have to try though. He wasn’t leaving without his stuff. Sure, he could get more gold out of the vaults, but he suspected the key was in the trunk. Plus the invisibility cloak, Firebolt, Marauders Map. No, he definitely wasn’t leaving without the trunk. 

He went and found a hair pin in Petunia’s room and came back to try and jimmy the lock. If only he had his wand this would be so easy. What did he care if Potter got expelled after all? After a couple hours he gave up and his head was killing him so he decided to go lay down on the couch for a little while. He wondered if he had a concussion. He would try again when he woke up.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Mrs. Weasley called everyone for lunch, Harry had cried himself out and he put his game face back on and went to wash his face before heading down. He would put Ron’s betrayal out of his mind for now and just enjoy his summer. He had a great afternoon playing quidditch with the twins and Ginny. He learned that he wasn’t the best keeper though and got a few funny looks from the twins who were playing against him and Ginny. 

Once they landed, he was in for an interrogation by his ‘siblings’, but he just assured them he was feeling off his game right now and he resolved to himself to practice more. He knew that Ron was at best a decent keeper and was sure if he paid more attention and got used to the old broom Ron had he would be able to get up to Ron’s level. He just hoped that Ron didn’t ruin his seeking reputation too much once they got back to school. He would only be seeker for one game before switching back though so it wouldn’t be the end of the world. 

They had the usual Weasley big dinner before Harry went back to Ron’s room and pulled out a book to read. He was finding himself rather bored without lists of chores to do. At least Mrs. Weasley had said they were all going to be de-gnoming the garden tomorrow so that was one thing to keep him busy. On the plus side, he would have a chance to get his summer homework done at a reasonable time. At least Ron’s grades would go up with him in Ron’s body. He could recover his own. This was owl year at least so only the owls counted anyway. 

 

Ron, unfortunately, didn’t wake up before the Dursley’s came home and he found himself dumped off the couch onto the floor and only woke up to find feet flying at him again. “You lazy, good for nothing, freak!” Vernon bellowed. “Couldn’t even do ONE thing we asked you to! After everything we’ve done for you, get up you piece of filth!” When Ron couldn’t do anything but moan in pain Vernon growled and picked him up, carried him bodily up the stairs and threw him into his room, slamming and locking the door behind him. He didn’t even notice that Harry’s body had hit the wall headfirst or that he had lost consciousness. He stormed back downstairs, glad that they had at least had dinner before coming home since the useless boy couldn’t even be bothered to do that. 

Being muggles, none of the inhabitants of the house noticed when the wards fell later that night as their anchor perished. The whirring instruments in Dumbledore’s office went silent as well, but he was long asleep by then. By the time he woke up the next morning and noticed he rushed to the Dursley’s house and banged on the door, waking them from their sleep. “You!” Petunia shrieked. “We want no part of your freakishness.”

Dumbledore ignored her. “Where’s Harry?” 

“In his room sleeping the lazy little sod. Why do you care?” Petunia snapped. 

“The wards have fallen Petunia,” Dumbledore said impatiently. 

Petunia stepped back and gasped as her hand came to her mouth. “No…” she whispered in shock. That was the only reason they kept the boy in the first place. For that protection. She recovered herself quickly enough though and said, “Well put them back.” 

“I would need to see Harry first. I have set them with his blood,” Dumbledore told her and she huffed as she stepped aside to let him in. Dumbledore headed up the stairs and went to the room with all the locks and opened it with a quick ‘alohamora’ before stepping in and stopping in shock. It took him a few moments before he found his voice and bellowed, “PETUNIA!” 

She came running up the stairs. “You can at least be quiet while everyone else is sleeping.” 

Dumbledore turned on her in a fury. “I only asked for one thing. That you keep him alive. It was such a small thing and you couldn’t even do that?!” 

Petunia gasped again as she realized what he was implying. “He-he’s dead?” 

“Yes he’s dead you stupid woman. What did you do to him?” Dumbledore asked heatedly. 

“What’s all this yelling about?” Vernon asked as he stepped out of the room sleepily. “YOU!” he snarled as soon as he saw Dumbledore. 

“Yes, me. Don’t worry though. This is the last you’ll see of me. You couldn’t even keep the stupid boy alive and I can’t and won’t protect you anymore,” Dumbledore said heatedly as he disaparated on the spot. They would surely have a lot to explain with a dead body in the house, but he washed his hands of them. All his plans were in ruins now. He only hoped that the death of the prophecy child would still work if it wasn’t Tom that killed him. Then he could take down Tom and be the hero again. This would take some thought. 

 

Harry had a nice time with the Weasleys for the next few days until Dumbledore showed up again and he looked distraught. “I have bad news,” he said sadly as soon as he came in. Everyone looked worriedly at him. “It seems that young Harry has perished.” 

“NOOO!” Mrs. Weasley wailed. 

“What happened Albus,” Mr. Weasley asked worriedly. “Was it you know who?” 

Dumbledore had already decided on his course of action with this. “It was, Arthur. It seems that he possessed the boy’s uncle and beat him to death.” He could make Harry into a martyr and then when he finally managed to take down Tom, he would be even more the hero for avenging Harry’s death. 

Harry managed to suppress his snort. Like Uncle Vernon needed to be possessed for that. Suddenly it hit him that Ron was dead. And that the switch was now permanent. The book fell from his hand and he rushed up the stairs and slammed the door to Ron’s room…no…his room now. He didn’t notice Mr. Weasley have to catch his wife and set her on the couch. Nor did he notice Ginny running for her own room in tears as the twins just stood there in shock.

Harry paced the room, filled with guilt. This was all his fault. He had known that Ron wouldn’t be able to cope with the Dursleys. He’d never dreamed that his uncle would take it so far though. What was he going to do now. He would need to come clean…He stopped that train of thought. No, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. For one thing that spell was illegal. If it would save Ron’s life that would be one thing, but nothing would bring him back now. He could never tell the Weasleys that they lost a son instead of their son’s best friend. It would destroy them. This was Harry’s way out. Out of being the boy who lived. Out of being hated one minute and loved the next. Out of having no friends other than betrayers. He could have a happy loving family for the rest of his life and keep himself out of Azkaban and Ron’s memory from being sullied with the criminal act. Yes, that’s what he would do. The only way out was through. He would be Ron for his sake and for the Weasley’s. He would give Ron a good legacy to leave the world and the boy who lived could die and good riddance. He just wished the real Ron hadn’t had to go with him. Even as a betrayer he didn’t deserve that. 

He finally sat down as he thought things out. The guilt would never go away. Just like it never would for his parents or for Cedric. This one was worse though. This one really was his fault. There was nothing he could do about it now though. He just had to figure out how to be Ron Weasley for the rest of his life. He thought about the things Ron was good at. Chess would be out. Maybe he could just say that since he and Harry always played chess he couldn’t bear to anymore. Yes, that would work. He was getting better at keeper and was almost up to Ron’s level, but maybe he would be better as a beater. He remembered Ollie telling him that he was a decent beater. If he could get the twins to work with him maybe he could take their place on the team when they graduated. He was definitely too big now to be an effective seeker. 

Harry suddenly remembered making out his basic will at Gringotts before third year when he had been stuck in the alley for three weeks. He had split everything between the Weasleys and Hermione. He hated that he gave Hermione anything now, but at least the Weasleys would be taken care of. He remembered that he left Ron his broom, invisibility cloak, marauders map, and photo album. He had been torn as to who to leave the photo album to, but had decided on Ron since they were all wizarding pictures and Hermione wouldn’t be able to have it out in the muggle world. He knew she planned on going to university. Hermione, however, would get all his books. He considered it poetic justice at least that she had essentially been stealing from herself there. He had only counted on the gold in his trust vault being split between them, but it seemed there would be a lot more than he thought. Harry just wished he’d had a chance to update the will later on. He would have left the cloak, map, and album to Sirius. 

Oh god. Sirius. He would be devastated. Maybe he could drop a secret note saying that he was alive and well and had escaped the whole boy who lived drama. No, Sirius would want to come with him. That wouldn’t work. He wracked his brain for a while trying to find a way to help Sirius too, but he couldn’t think of anything. No matter what he did, someone was going to be destroyed, but really, him ending up in Azkaban for doing the spell in the first place would be even worse for Sirius who still had so much baggage from there. No, this was the only way. Course of action decided, he laid down and finally let the guilt consume him as he cried for the boy he had thought of for so long as his best friend. 

 

That summer ended up being pretty miserable. Between his guilt and grief and the rest of the Weasley family’s grief, there wasn’t much merriment after the news. He had gotten a letter from Hermione, but just ignored it. There was no way he was going to stay friends with her now. Even the sudden influx of gold from Harry’s will just brought the mood down even further as it brought home the fact that he was gone. It took Harry some time to get used to being Ron and the fact that it was now permanent, but he managed. 

They went back to school and everyone was surprised at Ron Weasley’s new attitude. He did all his work and did it on time and well. His grades skyrocketed and he started making more friends. He and Hermione Granger never reconnected though. Harry/Ron had told her that now that Harry was gone and their job was over, there was no reason for them to pretend to be friends anymore. He ignored her tears as he walked away. Ron ended up with straight Os on his owls, coming in third in the year behind Hermione and Padma Patil. 

At the end of their sixth year Dumbledore was killed in battle with Voldemort and the nation mourned the passing of a hero. It was only a few months later when Neville Longbottom of all people killed the dark lord completely on accident, never knowing of the prophecy that foretold it. After all, losing his parents may not have been a physical mark, but it was still a mark. He was hailed as a hero and Harry was glad for it. Hopefully fame wouldn’t be as fickle for poor Neville as it had been for him. 

Most of the school was shocked when Ron Weasley made head boy in their seventh year, but no one could deny the changes in him since that awful summer when the boy who lived had been lost. He had more than earned it since then. Hermione Granger had faded into obscurity after the falling out with Ron, and Padma Patil was the head girl. Ron had apologized for being an awful date to the Yule Ball and more than made up for it in the following years as the two began a relationship and were married a year after graduation. 

Ron became an auror after graduation and quickly rose to the top of the department on skill alone. He and Padma had four children, three boys and a girl. Harry kept his promise to leave Ron Weasley a lasting legacy after he was gone and he only hoped that it made up, at least a little bit, for what had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this kinda sucks. Consider it an attempted warm up for getting back in the swing of writing again lol.


End file.
